Revell Germany Trabant 601S
By Craig Meador
HISTORY
A driver pulled into an East German gas station and asked the mechanic if he could get a windshield wiper for his Trabant. The mechanic studied the car for several minutes, sighed heavily, and finally said; "Okay, it's a trade".
From 1963 until 1991, the Sachsenring automobile factory produced over three million Trabant 601s, providing affordable transportation to the average proletariat worker - as long as he was willing to wait five to eight years for delivery. Power came from a two-cylinder 595cc (36 cubic inch) 20 horsepower two-stroke engine with a top speed of 62 mph. Trabant body panels were made of Duroplast, sheets of waste cotton material molded to shape and injected with phenolic resin under pressure and heat.
The 601S was the up market edition and came with such decadent luxuries as two tone paint, fog lamps and an odometer.
THE KIT
Just released from Revell of Germany, this is not to be confused with their earlier Trabant model of a few years ago, which was a repop of an old East German VEB kit. This is a brand new tooled model.
There are a total of 138 crisply molded parts on seven sprues neatly packed in cellophane bags, often within another cellophane bag. The kit's entire contents are packed in yet another cellophane bag. Some parts, such as the windshield wipers, are so delicately molded that care will be needed when separating them from the sprue.
The one piece body accurately captures the boxy lines of the original and it gives a good impression of how tiny the car really was. The hood opens to display a fully detailed engine compartment. The trunk also opens to display the spare tire.
The interior is so nice that it is almost a shame the doors do not open to see it better. There are instrument decals for the finely engraved dashboard. Also well represented is the somewhat odd gearshift lever. The seats have a nice, restrained texture, and feature a substantial headrest identifying this Trabant as a 1982 model or later.
The chassis includes detailed exhaust and suspension systems. The vinyl tires have a petite tread design, and the front wheels are posable.
The clear parts are well cast and have no swirls or blemishes. The clear parts are packed in their own cellophane bag and this insures that there will be no scratches on the larger clear pieces, such as front and rear windows.
The twelve page instruction sheet is clearly illustrated and logically presented in 42 steps. As the instructions are multi-lingual, there are a plethora of symbols used at various stages of construction. All of these symbols are explained on page three of the instructions. Revell paint numbers are used for color callouts.
The decal sheet provides license plates for East and West Germany, Hungary, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. There are also decals for the mirror faces, body script, and even the little "S" that go on the wheel hub.
CONCLUSION
This is a well engineered kit that should present no serious problems to the average modeler and will build into an impressive model straight from the box. My example had no sink marks, or even a hint of flash.
As a final treat, a brochure is included in the kit inviting the modeler to join the International Trabant Register, and to attend the 50th birthday party of the Sachsenring Trabant 601, this May through October in Zwickau, Germany, the hometown of the Trabant.
